The Promise
by baby-kitsune9
Summary: Ban wished for nothing more than to see Elaine again. To have a life with his woman as he was denied before. but time is one his side even if fate isn't. Elaine has been reincarnated. and now it is up to Ban to keep his word. Rated M for stuff. Ban/OC pairing. my first SDS story. please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

_Elaine_

She loved his eyes. She'd told him so once while lamenting over how white and pristine her narrow world was. She had told him that she loved the glittering ruby red of his eyes. How they were more beautiful than mere words could ever express.

 _She shivered each time he spoke_.

There was simply something about his low almost husky voice that sent chills of want and need running down her spine. He knew this.

And as such made a point of speaking to her as often as possible.

 _The way he watched her was like that of a predator awaiting to strike_.

He'd been a bandit and thief for the better part of his twenty something years, and as such his nature was more feral and predatory than most other humans she had ever met. The way he ate, the way he drank, even the very way he sat or stood in absolute stillness and watched her flutter about from one place to another like a little butterfly.

Whenever she shifted, he would watch. Whenever she moved across the way, he watched.

He watched her when she was awake. And even when she slept the deep, dreamless sleep of her kind.

 _He loved her._

Quite possible ever since the first time she had blown him away, _literally_.

He'd always been the type of man to become attracted to women who could knock him around. Of course it was one thing to be a masochist. It was another entirely to become attracted to someone who was simply protecting a holy treasure that was believed to be a legend and nothing more.

And then there was her appearance...

 _He'd always had a soft spot for kids._

And her appearance was deceptively like that of a small child. Perhaps that was what made her death so painful to him. She had been a rarity in his dark and bloody world.

He was a bandit/thief and even a killer.

She had been a holy maiden. Something pure and beautiful.

He was a worthless human.

She had been a fairy.

He had come to the sacred spring located in the Fairy Forest to steal the elixir of immortality.

She had stayed his hand and in the process had become a thief much like himself.

She had stolen his heart. And the day that the demon had attacked and killed her, the day that she had given him his immortality had been the day that she had both blessed and cursed him.


	2. Chapter 2

Comic con 2016-

Red eyes stared at the masses around her as her friend Sky prattled on next to her. "See. Isn't this way better than going to boring ol collage classes? I told you chocolate made me a genius!" The black and blue haired girl said as she turned her eyes and grinned at her.

"No. Liqueur makes you a genius," She'd seen the results of Sky's genius when she was all drunk and ready for some fun first hand. "Chocolate makes you a-" Sky let out a shriek of happiness as soon as she saw a kid dressed up as Cloud from Final Fantasy and ran over to him to ask his to pose for a few pictures. Leaving her behind to finish her initial thought out of earshot so as not to hurt Sky's feelings. "Lunatic. Chocolate makes you an absolute lunatic."

Standing there with her arms crossed over her breasts, she must have looked like an imposing figure to some. Especially since she was dressed like Anko from Naruto the anime. Minus of course the deep purple hair.

Of all the things that Sky had attempted to wrangle her into, dying her hair was simply out of the question. The almost waist length locks of shockingly vivid red was simply too pretty to cover up in her opinion. Besides, if she bothered to dye her hair now- she'd never manage to dye it back to it's natural color.

So there she stood in a sea of people, watching idly as her blue haired friend flitted about from one place to another, dressed in nothing but a fishnet shirt, an almost ankle length beige trenchcoat that was open in the front, a belt hanging low around her slender hips over the short mini skirt that Sky had given her to wear to display her long slender legs. And of course there was the headband hanging around her neck, and a pair of open toed 'shinobi' sandals on her feet that looked as if Sakura's character was the one who wore them.

They were the kind with small heels.

Sky thought that they made her look sexy.

She thought Sky was out to see her break her damned neck by making her walk in something that she had already slipped and fallen in _three_ times.

Finally after what felt like forever, Sky returned to her side giggling like a loon and all flushed and happy as she usually was after one of their adventures and she sighed, wondering if her friend would hate her if she ditched the Anko outfit in lieu of something that...well, covered more skin since she was becoming more and more uncomfortable with the looks that some of the nerds were giving her.

"Did you get enough pictures?" She asked as Sky hummed and tried to show her all of the nice pics she had taken before her hand was pushed away and her red headed companion muttered, "Good. Now can I please change out of this ridiculous outfit before I wind up on TV for flashing?"

Sky laughed at her as she imagined her friend in such a situation.

After all it wasn't like her friend was ashamed of her body. And if she was she was nuts. Especially since she had the type of lithe well toned body that made people who went to the gym daily green with envy. And what always seemed to get Sky was the fact that she never tried at it!

She never dieted (she loved her junk food and stuff far too much for that). She rarely left her home unless it was an emergency of some kind or someone was in trouble.

And to top off Sky's 'envy' list, her friends body was far more feminine than her own. Her boobs, her waist, hips, and butt were all appealing to people of both genders. And if that wasn't enough to get the envy going, she was hands down one of the most beautiful women Sky had ever come across.

In the first week after meeting her friend, she's seriously played with the idea of marrying her.

"Alright Akane, let's get you into some decent clothing before you have a fit." Sky said after a moment or so of careful thought and deliberation. Now that she thought on it- it was probably a good thing that she hadn't married Akane. She could be such a stick in the mud sometimes.

Akane said nothing, she merely kicked a geek that got too close to her and started walking with her duffle bag slung over her shoulder towards the nearest ladies room.

Leaving Sky to quickly apologize to the startled young boy dressed as Vash the Stampede before she darted off after her friend.

(****************************************************************************************************************************)

"Are the preparations complete?" A dark voice asked from somewhere in the shadows.

"Yes, my lord. I have found the woman." The sorcerer said as he watched the image of the glowing orb of the red headed young woman. _She wears his color upon her person and doesn't even realize the significance._ The sorcerer thought to himself as the voice said in a purring tone.

"Good. Begin when you are ready."

To which the sorcerer only nodded his head and wondered if bringing another innocent into the world was necessary to defeat Ban of the seven deadly sins. After all, it wasn't like he would know that the woman was the reincarnation of his dead lover.

The voice from the shadows merely laughed, that sickenly sadistic sound that made chills run down his spine as it said, "That is the entire point. Ban does not know her. Doesn't even recognize her. How do you think he will feel knowing that his lover was reincarnated and either he or one of his friends helped us to kill her? The agony of losing her once didn't destroy him. The pain of losing her twice didn't. But this time..."

 _This time it will be different_ , the dark being vowed to himself as the sorcerer looked back at the image in the glowing orb and sighed as he began to chant the spell necessary to bring the dark one's vile plan to fruition.

(*****************************************************************************************************************************)

Akane had just finished pulling her long sleeved red cotton shirt with the high neckline and picked up her black and silver colored vest to put on over it when she thought she heard the sound of distant chanting.

Pausing for a moment to tilt her head to the side, she listened for a moment but then shrugged and continued dressing herself until finally all she had to do next was put on the little blue/teal colored crystal drop family heirloom with the weird sun, moon and stars carved into it.

Grasping the thick silver chain in between her fingers, she carefully slipped it over her head and let it fall to rest just above her heart. And then bent back down and grabbed the little blue/teal and sterling silver drop earrings that she had made to match it, and carefully put them in her ear lobes before then collecting all of her cosplay outfit and stuffing it into her duffle bag.

Once she was done with that, she dug out a brush and a hair tie and stepped outside of the bathroom stall so that she could pull her hair back. However one she was clear of the stall something strange happened, her body froze up, and her heart began to beat more quickly as a sliver of fear suddenly wormed it's way through her.

And the next thing she knew, there was a whistling sound accompanied by a loud _**boom**_ that sounded like an explosion of some kind as her vision filled with white light and then...there was nothing.


	3. Chapter 3

_It's raining again_. Ban thought as he looked outside of the upper window of the Boar's Head Tavern that his captain/best friend/rival, Meliodas ran. Currently everyone was downstairs attempting to have a normal day to themselves for once.

Since Meliodas in all of his infinite wisdom had decided to reopen his tavern for business for the first time in almost a year, and was downstairs with everyone else working hard to earn money that they didn't need after the latest joke that he had played on some local village officals the other day when he had turned King in for the reward money on his wanted poster.

Before the village officials had been told that they were no longer outlaws.

After they had been told, the man had developed one of his stubbornly more childlike mentalities of _finders-keepers-losers_ - _weepers_. In this case, he had taken things a little far in conning the money from the village officials and then refusing to return it before they had left town.

Which had left the officials quite _literally_ in tears.

And yet, here he was with the tavern open again- _because their long fight was finally over and he was attempting to find some sense of normalcy._ They all were for that matter.

The fight with the Ten Commandments had lasted for far longer than it should have. Four long and grueling years of nothing but constant battles with the demon group led by Meliodas's two older brothers.

But now- after defeating the lot of them...things were finally beginning to get back to normal.

Or at least that's how it seemed to Ban who was currently bored out of his friggin mind with the somewhat tedious everyday occurrences. Now don't get Ban wrong, he loved the captain and the rest of their little rag tag group. But he had been feeling down of late due to Elaine's sudden resurrection and cruelly abrupt death several months prior.

He hadn't been able to keep his word to her again.

And that fact just ate at him more and more everyday.

Sighing, Ban finally decided that he couldn't stand it anymore. He needed some air. He didn't care if it was raining or snowing, or hailing outside. It wasn't like it really mattered anyways since he was immortal.

Immortal.

In love with a dead fairy.

And of course, _alone_.

Grabbing his jacket, he quietly slipped it on but didn't bother to button it. It wasn't like the cold could really affect someone who didn't die anyways. Leaving his bedroom he walked silently down the stairs to the tavern and carefully used his speed to exit the area before someone saw him and tried to make him feel better about how things had played out with Elaine.

After all it wasn't everyday that a guy could say that he had been the reason his woman had died... _twice_.

Once a good distance from the Boars Head, Ban stopped moving for a moment so that he could tip his head back and closed his eyes as he felt the rain begin to soak his hair, skin and clothes. Chilling him even more than normal as he sighed and resumed his walk, shoving his hands in his pants pockets as he went.

He must have walked for a while lost in his own thoughts since day slowly began to bleed into night. The rain had yet to let up any and he was growing tired of seeing the same scenery.

There was nothing but woods, woods, woods and- Right up ahead of him was something that looked suspiciously like a person wearing red lying just off to the side of the road under a large tree that had been split in two at some point and appeared to have also caught on fire some.

Bored and just a little bit curious as to what sort of dumbass would be out in the rain aside from himself, Ban moved forward a little bit so that he could see the 'person' up close.

And once he was better able to see, his red eyes widened a fraction in shock.

Lying there on it's back on the ground with it's back slightly arched because of a root protruding from the ground was what looked like a young girl about fifteen years old. Give or take a year or so.

Her head was tipped back at an awkward angle and there was traces of blood around her ears, eyes, and mouth. Her skin was frighteningly pale and almost had a blue-ish tinge to it, her long hair, or at least what of it wasn't mud stained looked to be as vivid a red as his eyes.

Her clothing was unusual. Definitely not typical traveler/village maiden stuff.

But that didn't really concern him. What did was the fact that the girl appeared to be nothing more than a little girl. An wet, injured, cold and possibly dying little girl. If she wasn't already dead that was.

Moving to her side, he dropped to his knees on the muddy ground next to her and put his fingers against her throat to feel for a pulse and was somewhat relieved to feel a strong steady rhythm underneath his fingertips. With the fact that she was alive established, he leaned down a little bit and carefully slipped an arm around her slender shoulders and his other underneath her knees and then carefully lifted her up off of the ground as he slowly got to his feet and then turned and began back towards the tavern.

Hoping that he'd get there before she either succumbed to her injuries or to hypothermia.


	4. Chapter 4

Ban tried to focus some of his magic around the unknown girl that he had found, hoping that the concentration of his power surrounding her- would in some way help keep her from suffering from hypothermia before he could reach the tavern and get her help.

The only problem was, the more he tried to focus on helping the poor little gal- the more he worried he may be doing more harm than good.

After all he was an immortal.

The second he'd become an undying freak, his body, his abilities, hell even his magical abilities had undergone a serious overhaul. Some in a good way and other's not so much. His physical power for instance, had altered to match his undying state. Whereas his magic abilities had almost been completely nullified with the exception of his healing ability and his power leeching ability.

And while he tended to excel at the power leeching.

He wasn't so good with extending his healing ability to others.

The same went for sharing his power- the last time he'd done that to a person he was trying to help... He'd accidentally killed them by pumping too much of his power into them which had caused their internal organs to basically liquefy.

It had been a slow death to some extent.

But an agonizing one.

Which was why he worried about the potential harm that he could be doing to the girl right then. After all, he didn't know the full extent of her physical wounds. For all he knew he was making things terribly worse. Especially if she had internal bleeding or something.

Pushing himself faster as soon as he saw the roof of the tavern in the distance, his long legs ate up the last bit of space between himself and the tavern.

"Oh, Ban's back!" He heard Diane shout but didn't really have the time to stop and react to her presence as his captain stepped out of the tavern and blinked at his appearance as Ban began to brush past him.

"S'up, Ban?" Meliodas asked curiously as he eyed his immortal friend as he began to brush by him carrying an unconscious young woman in his arms.

Ban didn't reply.

Which was unusual for him, but from the blue-ish tinge of the woman's lips and the unnatural paleness of her skin was anything to go by- Ban's reaction, or lack there of- was more than a little bit understandable since the man was otherwise engaged.

Deciding to follow along after his friend so that he could offer his help if it was needed (or wanted) at some point in the next few minutes, Meliodas began walking quietly behind the tall white haired man as he made his way through the crowded tavern.

Pointedly ignoring the people who stopped chatting and drinking to see what the two men were doing, as they continued their way to the stairs that led up to the second level of the bar.

Once upstairs, Ban quick work of reaching his room and carefully laying the woman down on his bed. Here in the light, her shockingly red hair stood out in stark contrast against her pale skin.

The faint traces of blood that had been around her eyes, ears and mouth had all but been washed away by the rain with the exception of some faint traces here and there that he took a moment to rub away with his fingertips before pushing her wet hair back away from her face so that he could get a better look at her.

And blinked at what he found.

Pixie-like delicate features, a heart shaped face... She looked as if she was a half breed between a human and a fairy. Which was odd since he felt no weird tingle from any hidden magical ability she may have possessed if she were a true half breed. But then fairy/human hybrids rarely possessed magic.

Most simply stood out due to their unnatural attractiveness and long life span and nothing else.

Feeling his captain standing a few feet away from him, bombarding him with his power to get him to do something more than simply look at the girl- Ban quickly realized that he must have been so lost in his thoughts that he had been wasting precious time that could be better used healing the girl and changing her out of her wet clothing so that she could get warm.

He blamed the fact that he had zoned out on the girl's peculiarly striking features as he moved away from the bed to go and find one of the specialized healing spells that he had stolen from the Holy Knights a while back.

Once he found it, he turned back to the bed to undress the girl only to pause in his steps and blink when he realized that she had already been striped down to her undergarments and had been partially wrapped in his bed sheets by his captain whom upon finally noticing Ban looking at him, quickly put his hands up in the air and slowly backed away from the girl and the bed while muttering.

"I was just trying to help..."

Ban bared his teeth at him and let out a low sounding growl that had the blond moving back again by several more steps as the white haired man activated the healing spell and let it go to work in a flash of pale blue light. Once the spell had completely enveloped the girl, Ban slowly moved to stand next to his captain since he couldn't exactly stand next to the bed while the spell was active.

He'd only end up accidentally leeching the power from it and canceling it out if he did. Besides, the distance was much safer for the girl's well being for the moment.

"Where did you find her?" Meliodas finally asked after several moments of silence. Ban supposed that he should feel grateful that his captain had managed to beat back his curiosity and refrain from asking him such things up until now. And he was. Especially since the man was probably planning to move the girl to the nearest village the very first chance he got.

Which for some unknown, nagging reason, simply didn't sit right with Ban.

Call it his 'thief's' intuition or call it simple curiosity. But as a former thief, Ban had a long standing habit of collecting the rare, valuable and beautiful. Whether such things happed to be inanimate objects or living things- to Ban- it simply didn't matter. And right now his 'thief's' intuition was telling him that he and the girl would have a long and outstandingly intimate relationship once she was better.

And awake.

Having an outstandingly intimate relationship with a girl while she was unconscious was just sick in his opinion. So yeah, when she was finally well and awake. Which meant that he would have to claim the girl as his property.

An bit old and outdated thing to do to a girl who probably would fight him every step of the way, but well, one did what one must. And as long as she was with him and his friends it was something that he deemed _necessary_ for her protection.

"Ban."

He opened his mouth and said, "I want to claim her as my property." At which point his captain slowly, _weirdly_ slow for the unusually quick demon, turned his head and gave him a funny look. Not funny 'ha, ha' funny way but in a funny like- _OhshitwhydidIopenmymouth?!_ paranoid sort of funny way.

"She isn't likely to care much for that." His captain said in his usual eerily calm tone as his green eyes flickered from Ban to the girl as Ban shrugged his broad shoulders.

He already _knew_ that the girl wasn't likely to care much for being claimed as his property. But again, if he deemed it necessary to her safety- then he would do it.

Ban had always half jokingly stated that he had a sort of warped finders, keepers mentality. He supposed that this was just his way of letting it come into play.

"Yeah I know. But as long as I've claimed her at least she'll be somewhat safe." Ban reasoned, figuring in the questionable injuries that the girl had sustained before he had found her as the healing spell finally deactivated.

Meliodas must have caught the hint of what Ban was speaking of in the man's tone and realized that he believed that the girl's injuries were unnatural. Which was why Ban was at the moment so willing to claim someone as his when he would usually have to have someone else shoulder the responsibility.

Sighing, Meliodas nodded his head and then turned to leave the room, pausing only briefly to say over his shoulder. "I'll send Diane and King into the nearest town tomorrow to get her some new clothes."

"Make them red. I want her wearing my color." Ban said, his tone somewhat possessive sounding to the short blond's ears.

"Sure. Just make sure that you don't wind up regretting this Ban."


	5. Chapter 5

**B,**

 **Glad that you like the idea of a third chance for Elaine.**

 **As for your question- the wizard is a special one. And while Akane _is_ Elaine's reincarnation they would not have sense any magic around her from her arrival if something was temporarily blocking their ability to sense the unnatural. Though you did ask an interesting enough question, I hope that some of this latest chapter answers some things.**

 **As for how they will find out who Akane really is- you'll have to just wait and see.**

(***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************)

Meliodas left Ban alone with his new...uh... _pet project_.

His expression unusually dark as he walked the hall to Elizabeth's room before lightly knocking on the door to check and see if his lover was inside. And upon realising that she wasn't, opened the door and slipped in and went to raid her closet and her dresser so that their newest addition would have some clothing until he could send the girls into town.

Now Meliodas was many things.

A little bit of an air head, a pervert, quick on his feet, super strong, a knight, and a demon- But he knew for a fact was that he had faintly sensed the magical energy that had surrounded Ban's new- er, friend? And it wasn't beginner's magic either, it was ancient and it felt like something straight out of murky, rotting corpse filled swamp water.

It had left such a bad feeling that he doubted that he should be anywhere near the girl for a while.

At least until whatever had caused the spell that he had felt earlier- went away. _If_ it ever went away. In the meantime he'd do what he could to support Ban's decision to take care of the girl and simply watch and make sure that the spell had no negative effects that caused the girl to hurt his friend. Even if it was from a distance for the time being- it was better than nothing.

Collecting three day outfits (complete with five pairs of colorful panties. One of which curiously ended up being worn on his head) and two nightgowns, Meliodas also made a quick stop by the closet just a little ways down from Elizabeth's bedroom where he had collected some girly items for her to use. And opened the door and absently began to pull out various things.

Shampoos, conditioner's, lotions- he wouldn't bother with choosing a perfume or two for her since that wasn't his place. Besides, Ban had very particular taste in scents, colors ect. And Meliodas was attempting to be respectful of that fact since everything he had in his arms so far was red, red, _red_.

Well, except for maybe the one dress that he had found in Elizabeth's closet that was a pure white. But he doubted that Ban would mind overmuch since it was just the one piece and options were currently very limited.

Pulling out a few more things, slippers, shoes, hair clips, some ribbon's, brushes and combs before he stepped back and used his foot to carefully close the closet door before heading back to Ban's room and lightly kicking the bottom of his door to get his attention.

Just in case his friend was otherwise occupied.

And it was a good thing too since the door didn't open immediately. But then he had sort of expected that.

(************************************************************************************************************************************)

Ban sat on the edge of his bed, his red eyes staring down at the girl's face for like the hundredth time in the last few minutes since his captain had left him alone with her. He simply couldn't help himself, it was like he had a spell or enchantment cast on him or something.

But he knew that that couldn't be the case since the girl wasn't awake to have cast one.

Still there was something about her presence that was nagging at the back of his mind. He just couldn't figure out what it was aside from the fact that there was just something so- so _wonderfully_ soothing about being near her.

It was, in some ways the same sort of feeling that he used to get from Elaine back when they first met even though she had quite literally blown him away. _Repeatedly_.

Hearing the slight sound from outside of his bedroom, he glanced over his shoulder at the door and waited to see if he heard the noise again. If he did then it meant that his captain had come back from raiding Elizabeth's room for...girly things.

When he didn't hear the sound again immediately, he turned back to the girl on his bed and frowned when he suddenly thought that he saw an image of his dead lover Elaine lying there for a moment before he blinked and the image was gone.

 _What the hell?_ He thought to himself as he reached out and poked the girl in the cheek. Her skin was warm, not as warm as it should have been, but still warm when compared to himself and his dead lover.

Dropping his hand away from her, Ban sighed and tilted his head back wondering if perhaps what he'd just seen had been an omen, or a trick of his mind or a trick of the light or something. So far he was coming up with blanks. There just didn't seem to be a logical explanation as to why he had 'seen' Elaine.

Except perhaps that he missed her terribly.

The noise from outside of the room came again, this time louder and more impatient sounding to his ears. Getting up off of his bed, he moved over to the door and tentatively opened it to see who was knocking and blinked at the barely visible mop of familiar blond hair peeking out from under lavender colored lace.

"Captain?"

"Here. Stuff for your...friend." Meliodas said as he handed everything over to Ban and then made a quicker than usual exit. Putting on a little bit of his unnatural speed to get gone quickly. Leaving Ban standing in the bedroom door with his arms full of feminine things and wondering what he was supposed to do with them.


	6. Chapter 6

Despite his unease Meliodas _tried_ to do the right thing by Ban and his new lady friend later that evening after everyone's work in the tavern was finished and they were all sitting down, drinking, eating and talking. He remembered Elizabeth leaning down to kiss him on the cheek for something as Gowther asked, "Where is Ban? Shouldn't he be down here with us?"

Meliodas suspected that the man only asked because he had noticed Ban's return as well as what he had returned with and was merely curious. Then again...it was also entirely possible that the mischievous demon doll planned to do something to fuck with Ban a little bit for fun since doing so often entertained him endlessly.

Like the time he'd used his memory altering spell on the man and made him think he was a duckling and Meliodas was his mother.

That had been a particularly dark time for the blond which was just one of the many, many reasons why he didn't want Gowther to mess with Ban or the girl. Messing with Ban (depending on what he planned for him to think or do) could leave the girl utterly defenseless. Whereas messing with the girl would only prove to piss Ban off.

 _Badly_.

And since he liked his tavern and his home intact...

"Ban found an injured girl out in the woods wen he went for a walk earlier tonight." Meliodas said, knowing that he wouldn't be able to hide that fact from his friends even if he tried. Diane and King were both terrible gossipmongers. And everytime they found something out they went running straight to Elizabeth and suckered her into their gossiping due to the young woman's innocent and trusting nature.

It was something that Meliodas had warned the two about repeatedly. Diane was a bit better about it after being scolded a few times. But King...not so much.

Everyone was quiet as they mulled over what he had just said before Diane asked, "Are we going to leave her in the local village before we leave the area?"

Meliodas leaned back in his chair and sighed, his long blond hair falling in his face, hiding his emerald eyes as he slowly replied. "We might have. But Ban has decided to claim her in the same way that I claimed Elizabeth shortly after we first met. So leaving her in a village somewhere isn't an option unless we want to lose Ban as well."

"Why would he do that?" Diane asked, her tone leading Meliodas to believe that she wasn't terribly happy with the news at the moment. Probably because it meant that their group would have one more female in it that she would have to share him and the rest of their friends with.

"We all know that Ban hasn't been the same since losing Elaine again. He's much too quiet. Keeps more to himself. He smiles too little... It may be that he has begun to grow tired of living his immortal life alone."

"But Ban loves Elaine-" King began to say when his captain cut him off.

"Yes. And his love for her is _killing_ him in ways that no war or weapon ever could."

"Yes but-" King began again when Gowther cut in this time.

"I think our captain is right. Ban's immortality is a terrible burden on him. He had loved and lost the same woman to death twice and it is killing him in ways that we cannot comprehend. I also believe that he has chosen now to claim a companion for himself because he has grown weary of being alone. After all, his chances of being happy with Elaine have dropped to nothing with her last death. If he cannot have the woman he loves, why not settle for someone who represents the potential that was ripped from him?"

"What?" King said unintelligibly as he blinked at Gowther. Having barely understood a single word that had come from the doll's mouth.

"I think what Gowther is trying to say is that Ban was cheated of the potential life that he could have had with Elaine. It meant more to him than just a forbidden romance. It was a chance to have a life outside of the one he has always known. A life with Elaine as his partner and mate. The potential for children and a lifetime of happiness. All of which were ripped away from him when your sister was killed. So now, after losing her again- Ban may have decided that if he cannot have Elaine- he will at least take someone with the same potential she represented to him for a different life, and keep her by his side."

"You really think that's why Ban is doing what he is?" Diane asked, this time her tone was lacking her displeasure and was colored more with concern.

Meliodas slowly nodded his head in response to her question before saying sagely as he reached out and took Elizabeth's hand in his, "A life without someone to share it with- even an immortal one- is no life at all."


	7. Chapter 7

The girl slept for two in a half days, and as Meliodas had expected- Ban never left his room or the girl's bedside. Which was okay, the blond supposed since it gave them time to prepare for her to wake. He had already sent Gowther on one errand, while sending Diane, Elizabeth and King into town at the local village to get extra clothing and such.

After which Meliodas had built a few extra rooms onto the area above the tavern- one of which would serve as a bedroom for Ban's girl if his friend chose not to share his bed and his space with her. And even if he did, the room would still be there just in case the girl needed it.

Which was very likely given Ban's personality.

Still, Meliodas made a point of making the room nice and spacious. Of furnishing it with hand made ornate flowering vines carved into the head and foot of the bed that he had made along with some other pieces. Mostly flowering vine covered shelves.

Oh! And the large oval mirror that he had bought and fixed up for her so that it matched the rest of her room.

After he finished carving the flowering vines and building the furniture, Meliodas then painted everything with a light brown before he then painted the walls of the room a nice girly color- he didn't know which one, the blasted room could be a nice cringe worthy pink and he still wouldn't notice due to his ability to zone out.

After which he then brought in some mattresses, sheets, pillows, and some curtains that he hung up before quickly exiting the room. After all, he was done. There was no point in standing back, admiring his handy work and feeling a sense of accomplishment.

Ban could do at least one of those things for him before he felt _any_ sense of accomplishment.

Walking back down the hall, Meliodas was passing by Ban's room when he heard the faint sound of his friend speaking and paused so that he could listen.

(*****************************************************************************************************************************)

Ban hadn't bothered to eat or sleep during the time the girl remained asleep. Not because he was immortal and didn't need to eat and sleep but because- well okay technically speaking he didn't need too. It was merely the normalcy of the two actions that he usually craved.

But this was different.

It was different because he had decided to finally claim another person as his, and said person was currently injured and unresponsive and unable to make any attempt to defend herself should anything happen. And that alone was enough to scare him into staying glued to where he currently rested on the floor with his back against the wall, facing the bed.

So that he could _see_ just in case something happened.

But as the day wore on from morning to a little past noon, the only thing that happened was the girl beginning to stir. Hearing a soft moan escape her, Ban was on his feet in an instant and leaning over her as her eyes fluttered and opened.

Revealing eyes as vivid a red as her hair as he reached out and framed her face in his hands and muttered under his breath, "Come on, come on- Wake up." His heart hammering in his chest, Ban watched anxiously for several more moments before the girl finally managed to wake up enough to lift her arms and put her hands on him and weakly try to push him away.

Ban felt a jolt of something unfamiliar course through him the second her hands touched the muscle of his chest that wasn't covered by his shirt and jacket, causing him to smile a little bit as he grasped both of her small hands in his own and lifted her wrists to his lips before moving away to go to the door and shout, "She's awake! Can we get some food up here?!"

Before turning around and recalling that his captain wasn't much of a cook before shouting, "Never mind! I'll come down and fix something myself!" Before turning back to the bed where the girl was now sitting up, holding her head with one hand as she gave him a suspicious look as he walked back over to the bed and leaned down to pick her up but was stopped when she grabbed the pillow and smacked him in the face with it.

Stopping in mid motion upon recognizing what the smack was, a warning shot, Ban looked at the girl almost expectantly as she asked, "Who're you?"

"My name is Ban. What's your name red?" He asked as he studied her for a moment.

"Akane... My name is Akane."

"Akane what? You have a last name don't you?"

"Niran. Akane Niran."

Ban tilted his head a bit in a curious manner as he tested the name on his tongue for a moment before finding it acceptable to him. "It sounds like a nice name. Foreign. What does it mean?" He found himself asking.

"Akane means brilliant red. And Niran means flame." She muttered with a small frown as she looked at him and saw his vivid red eyes look as if they were glowing for a moment. But that wasn't possible. People's eyes didn't glow. Akane thought to herself as the man muttered something that she couldn't hear before looking down at her again and noticing that she was sitting there in her bra.

 _Oh right_.

After he had found her and his captain had stripped her of her clothing so that she could get warm faster, he had pretty much forgotten that she wasn't compeltely dressed.

Moving away from her and the bed, Ban went over to the dresser where he had placed everything that his captain had brought for her, and dug out some fresh clothes for her (including some panties) and then grabbed a brush and some slippers and walked back over to the bed and dropped everything in her lap.

"Here. You need clean clothes... And probably a bath too since you've been asleep for two in a half days." He said with a small frown as he pointed to the door across the room, over by the window and said, "Bathroom is through there. Do what you need to do and then come downstairs. Okay?"

Akane blinked and opened her mouth to say something but closed it again when she noted that he had already disappeared and left her alone.


	8. Chapter 8

The moment that Ban was seen making his way towards the kitchen, Meliodas paused in mid sentence to turn his head and follow his friend with his emerald colored eyes. It was practically unheard of for a man like Ban to leave the side of the person that he had claimed as his own when said person was incapable of defending herself.

But his presence in the tavern meant only one thing, the girl had finally woken up. Which was good since he had some questions about something that she had been in possession of. Well okay- it was actually three things.

Three pieces of jewelry.

A necklace and set of earrings made of the same silver and blue stone with the same carvings etched into them as Elizabeth's own earring. In fact he had taken a little time to ask some Holy Knights and Elizabeth herself about said items and so far all he had learned was that whoever possessed the items was possibly from Elizabeth's biological family.

The lost royal family of the destroyed kingdom of Danafor.

Which meant that there was a very strong possibility that Ban's woman was one of Elizabeth's relatives. And as shocking as that was to him...he couldn't help but think of how much more shocking such news would be to Ban when he found out. But then Meliodas wasn't planning to tell his friend what he thought he had found for a while yet. At least not until the woman settled as one of them anyways.

The smell of cooking food wafted from the kitchen and Meliodas turned and went back to his chatting with the person he'd been chatting with before he had stopped, figuring that if Ban was in the kitchen then he was probably fixing some food for himself and the woman to eat.

(***********************************************************************************************************************************)

Akane waited a moment or two just to make sure that the man was gone before she slid herself out of the strange bed that she had been resting in and shivered when she felt the semi warm air on her bare skin before realizing that she was in nothing but her favorite black and red lace bra and panties.

Something that she would be speaking to the white haired man- Ban- about upon his return. However for the moment she decided that she would take advantage of the time to clean herself up since a warm shower right now sounded really damn good to her.

Besides, she needed the time to collect herself and figure out the best way to find out where she was, as well as what had happened to her, and how she was to get home.

Walking on slightly unsteady legs, she awkwardly made her way to the bathroom that Ban had pointed out to her before he had left her, and slipped inside, closed the door behind her, and flicked on the light after setting everything in her hands down on the counter top.

And then took a moment to look over herself in the nice oval shaped mirror hanging over the sink.

Man she looked like someone who had been run over by a train. Her normally healthy looking ivory skin was almost a chalky white and her abnormally red eyes were almost demonic looking in her pixie like face. Her long vivid red hair was tangled and matted. And she wouldn't quite swear to it was she was almost certain that she had a cow lick. Something that she hadn't had in years since growing her hair out past her shoulders.

Sighing she took a moment to go through the clothing and stuff that Ban had given to her before disappearing to god knows where. And found some sweetly scented shampoo, conditioner, and some lotion among the clothing, brush, toothbrush, and hair ribbon that she had been given.

And after separating everything, then turned to the shower and took several minutes to figure out which thing was for the hot water, the cold, and to adjust the temperature to keep it from scalding her skin since it was so hot to the touch that when she had tested it with her hand, she had automatically drawn back with a pained hiss from where her skin had been burned.

After she was done with that, she stepped under the spray and began the task of washing herself. Which took a while due to the aches and pains in her joints that reminded her of one of the few times she'd been so sick that she had wound up in the hospital from some unknown illness that had almost killed her.

She must have been in there for a good long time. Long enough at least for Ban to return to the room with food enough for them both that he had set up at a little table over by the bedroom window before sitting down to wait on her.


	9. Chapter 9

**Yo kitten's.**

 **It's been a crappy wedding anniversary today so I thought I'd write.**

 **Here's to hoping that the masses enjoy the chapter.**

 **Happy Halloween ya'll.**

 **(***********************************************************************************************************************************************)**

 _What was taking her so long?_ Ban wondered as he shifted around in his seat while casting glances towards the bathroom door every so often with a slight frown marring his face. It had been almost an hour since Akane had gone in to clean herself up and their breakfast had long gotten cold. But that wasn't really what was bothering him.

What bothered him was the fact that she had yet to come out of the bathroom though he could no longer hear the water running. As it was, he was beginning to worry that perhaps she was still injured enough to have lost consciousness after getting out of the shower.

Getting up, Ban headed towards the bathroom intent on finding out what was taking Akane so damn long when the door finally opened and she stepped out rubbing at her hair with a towel.

Freezing in place Ban just looked her over for a second, unsure of what else he should do.

He couldn't see any further injuries since the healing spell had done it's job, but from the way she was moving- it was possible that her insides were still feeling a bit bruised up from her prior wounds.

Catching him staring, the girl flushed a little bit and muttered an apology before moving even further into the room, which gave him the chance to peer inside of the bathroom where he finally saw what had taken the girl so damn long.

There, laying on the floor was a small carpet of nothing but silken red hair.

"You cut your hair." He said in an almost accusing tone as he turned his head to look at her again. This time his gaze wandered towards her hair, curious to see just how much of the length she had shorn off.

She looked at him, a small frown crossing her pretty face as she looked at him for a moment before saying, "Whatever happened for me to wind up here fried some of my hair. I couldn't keep it as long as before without it becoming more damaged. So I cut about six inches off and layered it." And as if to show him what she meant, she set the towel aside and let him see what she had done.

Her formerly near waist length hair was now just above the small of her back and some of the strands curled in places where they had been cut. All in all she had done a fair job of cutting her hair. And it did look rather nice the way that some of the layered strands curled around her slender shoulders and pretty face.

"Oh. I-It looks nice." Ban said after a few moments of awkward and unnerving silence.

"Thanks."

He nodded to her to show that he had head her and then sighed, "Breakfast is cold now, I hope you don't mind."

"No. Cold is fine." Akane said as he motioned for her to come and sit at the table by pulling her chair out for her. She hesitated for a moment, not totally sure what she should do or say in this situation- after all something had happened to her and she was now in a strange place with a man who, obviously had been taking care of her.

From what she had observed of herself earlier before her bath, she had managed to surmise that she had been injured or sick in some way.

Her body ached all the way to the bone. She was paler than usual, and felt weaker than normal as well. Which was part of the reason why she hadn't attempted to escape already. She knew that in her current condition- along with the fact that she didn't know where she was or anything else- escape would be immpossible since she was most likely in a fairly secluded area and in her weakened condition she probably wouldn't even make it to a door.

So she would have to bide her time, gather information, and wait until she was better.

It shouldn't take long, no more than a day or two. Three at the most.

She must have spaced out on him without meaning too, because one moment he was holding the back of her chair and waiting on her to come to him and the next he was in her personal space. His large callused hands framing her face, tilting her head back so that she was looking up at him.

She hadn't realized until then just how tall he was.

She stood at a decent five foot nine. Whereas her white haired, and scarlet eyed companion towered over her at a whopping six foot six inches, maybe six foot seven inches.

She blinked as he slid one hand through her hair, tangling the silken strands around his fingers as he forced her head back on her neck just a little bit more as he leaned down a little bit so that he was almost completely face to face with her.

His narrowed scarlet eyes unblinking as he stared down at her as he demanded. "What is it? Why do you hesitate?"

Realizing that he might catch on to her plan if she didn't snap out of it, she tried to meekly apologize to appease him, not really knowing that he was already onto her. And like her, he was merely playing along for the moment.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean too." He heard her say and reluctantly released her knowing that since he was still a stranger to her and she didn't know his intentions just yet that it was normal for her to feel a bit suspicious towards him.

"Don't apologize. You have nothing to be sorry for." Ban said as he went back to the chair that he had pulled out for her. And waited _patiently_ this time for her to come to him while mentally kicking himself for getting up in her face like he had. That had been a dick move and he was going to have to settle his ass down lest he managed to chase her away with his aggressiveness.

Moving to take the seat that he held out for her, Akane slowly sat down and let him push the chair in a bit before he retook his seat before holding his hand out and saying, "Gimme you're plate and I'll fix it for you." Causing her to frown a little bit before she opened her mouth to argue that she could fix her own plate. After all it wasn't as if she were a child.

However Ban didn't seem very intent on listening to her objections. His mind was set on doing whatever was necessary to claim her as his woman and that meant starting first with the declaration of intentions, then second with the fixing of her food.

He _had_ to use all of the ritual steps otherwise someone would take her from him. But of course, she obviously didn't seem to know that- so he tried a different tactic to ensure that she allowed him to follow the ritual.

Motioning with his fingers for her to hand him her plate, he waited just a moment longer before sighing and saying. "Look princess, I know that you can fix your own plate. But you're still weak and sore from being injured. And it's a tradition in my country for the man to take care of a girl. It's a sign of respect and compassion. Just let me do it okay."

 _A tradition?_ Akane thought to herself as she tried to think of which country would have such a tradition since that would tell her just where exactly she was or at the very least where Ban was from, however she came up blank and reluctantly handed over her plate and watched him carefully to make sure he didn't try and pull a fast one on her.

And by the time he was finished her plate had been filled with fluffy scrambled eggs, a pork chop or two, some bacon and two biscuits. Whereas his plate had at least twice as much of everything by the time he was finished fixing his own plate.

"You don't have to hold back, I know you're hungry." Ban said before he began to pick up his fork as he cast her a covert glance only to find that she had made no move to eat anything just yet, and frowned. _What was she waiting for?_ He wondered curiously. He could feel her hunger practically beating at him. The feeling of the unsated urge was putting him a bit on edge since it was feeding his own hunger.

However she continued to sit there, watching him even as he took a few bites and swallowed after which he was about to lift his head so that he could look at her again when she finally picked up her fork and started eating. About half way through his meal, Akane finally asked him where they were.

And he took a moment to reply only to become slightly alarmed to her reaction of where they were. So much so that he put his fork down and got up out of his seat to go kneel down next to hers.

She was shaking, her eyes wide in her already pale face and from the look of her she was just a moment away from total hysteria. Not good. Not good at all. "Hey, what is it? What's wrong?" He asked wanting to know what was going on in that pretty head of hers.

"B-Britain. We're in Britain. H-How did I get here? That's like- thousands of miles from where I was before! And I don't recall flying here!" Her voice was raising in volume a little bit as he reached out and took her hands in his and let her squeeze them.

Her words disturbed him. Possibly more than anything could at the moment.

Her distress was an almost tangible thing to him. He could smell it. Almost even taste it on his tongue. It wasn't something that he cared for. Not one damn little bit.

"Calm down and tell me what you recall before waking up here."


	10. Chapter 10

Ban frowned as Akane just sat in her chair with her head down and her shoulder's slumped a bit. Her long red hair slipping over her slender form to hide her face as he scrutinized her for a moment longer before deciding that she wasn't lying. Nor was she yanking his chain with a really bad joke.

She really didn't know or understand where she was or how she had gotten there.

And that pissed him off because now it meant that he was responsible for a young girl who for reasons still unknown to him, been kidnapped for some reason. Which meant that whoever had taken her from her home and brought her to Britannia would likely come for her once they found out she wasn't where they had left her.

If they didn't know that she wasn't there already, that is.

With this firmly in mind, Ban spent close to an hour trying to calm the terrified girl that he had chosen to bind to him and by the time everything was said and done- their food was discarded and left untouched on the table as he sat with Akane resting in his lap. One hand gently stroking her hair as he held her tightly against his chest until she somehow managed to slip into a fitful sleep.

He stayed like that for just a few minutes longer just to be sure that she was totally under before slipping the hand that he'd been previously using to stroke her hair, underneath her legs and then stood up, he took Akane with him as he stood so that he could carry her over to the bed and let her rest until a little later.

Hopefully when she would be feeling a bit better.

Once he had put her back to bed and carefully tucked her in, Ban spent the next few minutes eating since his woman was bound to be getting herself into trouble off and on once she felt more like herself and he needed to keep his strength up. Though it did bother him a bit that she hadn't been able to hold off her hysterics until _after_ breakfast.

But he understood how she must have felt.

After all she was a stranger in a strange land and from what he had understood of things, magic didn't exist where she was from. Which would probably be another reason for hysterics in the near future.

Still- his woman was going to need him to lean on for comfort and strength and he had no intention of letting her down.

Setting his empty plate down on the table he looked over the rest of the food before deciding that he'd put her breakfast in the cooler downstairs in the kitchen for later, just in case she actually felt like eating. That way the food that he had _oh-so-carefully_ prepared for her wouldn't got to waste.

Everything else could either be given to one of the others or to Master Hawk.

He wasn't exactly feeling picky about which one at this moment in time as he carefully collected all of the dishes and headed out the door. He had a feeling that he was probably going to be ambushed at some point by the captain and the others if he didn't pull someone aside and talk to them at one point or another.

Besides... He was going to have to ask the captain to call a meeting later on after the tavern was closed and all of the customer's had gone home.

Plus he needed to introduce his woman to a few of the Holy Knights that hung around with them now as well as the others since he would need the extra help watching out for her.

Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, Ban blinked in shock at seeing how empty the tavern was since to his knowledge the place was well into it's business hours. So shouldn't it be teeming with drunks, travelers, knights and such?

Meliodas looked up from where he was sitting at one of the tables, playing cards with the man he called, Little Gil. Diane, and Elizabeth had also obviously decided to play a few hands since both Elizabeth and Meliodas were both sharing between them what looked like Little Gil's monthly wages for his services as a knight.

"So how did things go?" Meliodas asked without looking up from his hand as Ban brushed by their table, heading towards the kitchen.

"We'll need to speak of that later." Ban said in an uncharacteristically serious tone that had the blond man tipping his head back on his neck to give Ban's back a strangely calculating look before deciding that Ban probably had his reasons for being so somber.

Which meant that none of them were going to like what they heard very much when Ban got around to speaking with them later.

Gilthunder leaned forward in his seat a little bit, deciding to try and take advantage of his inattention to their present game of cards, however he was practically ratted out by the wood that squeaked under his weight. Snapping back to attention without moving Meliodas deadpanned, "You better not be trying to cheat Gilthunder otherwise I'll have to impose a hefty penalty on you."

Bristling a little bit at being caught trying to cheat, Gilthunder leaned back in his seat and cleared his throat as Meliodas returned his eyes to the cards in his hands before sighing a moment later and folding and collecting his winning before moving towards the kitchen where Ban was cleaning up the dishes he had messed up earlier.

Leaning his shoulder against the doorframe, the man's emerald eyes bore into Ban's back before Ban finally broke the silence and said, "We may have trouble coming."

There was a slight flicker of anger in the emerald depths, but the emotion was gone before Ban could turn his head to look at his friend as the blond said softly, "Oh? How so?" He wouldn't imagine that Ban's woman would be much trouble on her own. Unless she was somewhat like Elizabeth of course, but then he tended to tease the princess about his reasons for keeping her around despite her being his lover.

"Akane was kidnapped from her home- a place far, far away place different from our own country and recalls nothing of how she came to be here or _why_."

Meliodas's eyes widened at this and he pushed away from the doorframe to move to stand just in front of Ban and lightly grasped his friend's wrist so that he could feel his pulse to check if he was lying or not. Ban wasn't of course.

In fact as far as bandits went the man was fairly honest about everything he did or didn't do. Besides, lying right now served no purpose for him.

"Is she alright?" Meliodas asked, his tone slightly concerned as he saw Ban slowly shake his head no before replying softly.

"She was..." Ban took a moment to grapple with himself before saying, "Understandably- hysterical. Though not as hysterical as most people get." Ban turned his head and gazed almost pointedly at the two women of their group. Elizabeth and Diane.

Meliodas let out an soft amused chuckle before sobering and asking. "Will she be alright?"

"I think so. She just needs a little time to process things. She practically cried herself to sleep- didn't touch her damn breakfast. And she'll probably wake up with a bad headache too."

Meliodas listened to Ban and slowly nodded his head in understanding before asking, "Will she be joining our meeting later?" He hoped so since it would give him an opportunity to work in a question or two about the jewelry that he had slipped off of her the other day.

He still wondered why she was wearing the matching pieces to Elizabeth's biological family. He supposed that it could be possible that the girl in Ban's care was in some way related to Elizabeth, even if they were just distant cousin's. But he couldn't help but think that even if that were in some way true- something bad was bound to happen to Elizabeth if he let her get too close to the girl.

And if she in any way threatened his lover... Emerald eyes flashed vermillion ringed in amber for just a moment as he felt a sudden murderous surge of rage.

If he found out that the girl was a threat to his lover and friends, he'd waste no time killing her. Whether Ban attempted to stop him or not.

"I think so. I mean, I know that she needs a bit of time to process things. But she needs to meet everyone. Plus she needs to eat something too. She already weighs next to nothing- I'm worried that she may start starving herself on purpose if this continues."

"Then how about we have a meal together. You, me and the rest. Akane may feel a bit better once she wakes and it'll make our meeting easier to hold once she's introduced herself to everyone."

Ban blinked at Meliodas before his features lit up with excitement. "Hey yeah! That could work! Plus with the girls present she may not feel so overwhelmed by us guys."

Meliodas smiled warmly and nodded his head before saying that he was going to go back and play a few more hands of cards, leaving Ban alone in the kitchen to plan.


	11. Chapter 11

Ban spent the better part of almost an hour trying to think up what to cook for dinner that evening before heading back upstairs to check on Akane and found the captain slipping stealthily out of his room and slowly shutting the door before he turned his head and cast Ban a faux startled look.

"Captain, what were you doing in there?" Ban asked his friend in a no nonsense tone that held the threat of unspoken violence.

"I came up to check on Akane," Meliodas said, deciding that it would be better for him in the long run if he were just flat out honest with Ban. "She woke up a minute ago with a headache just like you predicted. So I got some medicine for her. But..."

"But?" Ban prompted when Meliodas suddenly stopped speaking and began to shift from foot to foot in a slightly nervous manner.

"Well, I guess that she didn't trust me to give her something that isn't harmful. She refused to take the medicine," The shorter man then scowled at the door for a moment before going on to say, "And she kind of threw one of your many, _many_ stolen trinkets at my head. She has a damned good arm too." Meliodas said in a slightly low growling tone, a clear sign of his disgruntlement before then going on to say in his usual tone, "The force of the throw made an nice big indent in your bedroom wall."

Ban sighed and momentarily felt the urge to laugh at his friend however he managed to refrain from doing so since he knew that earning the girl's trust was going to be tricky. Probably more tricky than her actions with the captain suggested. Especially since she was a kidnapping victim and didn't know any of them.

But he would manage, as long as he started with baby steps and remained patient with her whenever she balked at something. He figured that as long as he did that, everything should be okay.

He'd be able to build a nice sturdy, foundation, for their binding to occur and complete.

Until then he had a lot of work to do. Beginning with earning at least a little bit of her trust. Just enough to help her feel safe around him and his friends. Which meant spending a lot more time than he usually would around a woman that wasn't Elaine, Elizabeth, or Diane.

And that time spent also entailed keeping her out of trouble, going into town on shopping trips and providing her with things that didn't belong to Elizabth.

So maybe before he began to cook dinner for this evening, he could take her out for a little bit. After all if anything happened (like they were attacked for some reason or another) she would need to know where the town was so that if they became separated he could send her with Elizabeth, Diane and Master Hawk so that she would at least be semi safe.

And since she was awake now...

"Captain, I think I'm going to take her out of here for a little bit and head into town. I need to show her the lay of the land and while I'm out I can grab some extra things for our dinner."

Meliodas blinked his green eyes at Ban as he thought over the immortal's words for a moment before fishing out his spoils from his card games and held it out to Ban and said in a soft tone.

"Here. You can use this to buy what you need for dinner... And while your at it, if you happen to find something nice that your woman takes a shine to- then buy it for her, from me, as an apology for possibly scaring her a few minutes ago."

Ban blinked at him for a second before taking the money from him with a nod and then stuffed it in his pocket and then brushed by his friend and slipped into his bedroom and found Akane prepared to brain whoever came through the door next with one of the small, heavy wooden chests that he kept a majority of his stolen goodies in.

Yelping as he dodged her downward swing, he made a mental note to punch the captain later on for making such a terrible impression on her. And making his job earning her trust that much harder.

(**************************************************************************************************************)

Akane didn't know who was coming through the door this time, but if it happened to be that little blond kid- she was going to end him. Not only had the jerk stolen her precious family heirlooms but he had threatened her when she had refused to tell him where she got them from.

After all she came from a rich and privileged family. Dealing with low lives, kidnappers, rapists, blackmailer's and such was just another part of everyday life for her.

As it was this must be the sixth time she had been grabbed by someone since she had been in Junior High. And each time she had been grabbed, the one/ones who had taken her all asked the same damn thing.

Where did she get her jewelry?

So naturally when she had refused to tell him anything, like all of the others, he had stupidly put his hands on her. And while he hadn't exactly hurt her in the typical manner, she would still have bruises from him digging his fingers into her skin until she had kneed him in the stomach to distract him while she broke his hold on her just enough to grab the nearest object and throw it as hard as she could straight at his head.

She figured that if he was smart enough, he'd take the action for what it was and back off for now. And if not- she'd brain him with the next item she grabbed a hold of.

Strangely though, he had taken the action of her throwing something at him as a warning and had quickly slipped out of the room. Leaving her angry and scared and shaken.

She might have attempted to try calming herself just in case he decided to come back and confront her again when she had suddenly heard two people talking just outside of the door.

And judging by the muffled voices it was the kid and the white haired man from before. She couldn't make out all of what they were saying to each other all she knew was that it likely wouldn't be good for her health. Quickly searching the room, she found a small wooden chest that kind of reminded her of a pirates treasure chest, and picked it up.

Startled at first by it's heavy weight, she popped the lid on it and blinked at the gold and silver coins and the gems and jewels lying in it. Each piece was intricately created and had such wonderful detail work that they had to be well worth millions upon millions in the right hands.

Hearing the door knob turn behind her, she flipped the lid closed and re-latched it and then moved to hide herself just beside the door- well out of sight. Or at least she hoped so. Her cover would only last for as long as a person wasn't looking.

Which gave her a very small window of opportunity in which to act.

Lifting the chest up over her head, she held her breath and tried to ignore the loud pounding of her heartbeat echoing in her ears as someone finally stepped into the room and pushed the door closed.

It was the white haired man from before.

The one who had been taking care of her. The one who seemed to be confused earlier when she asked where she was. He had been nice, even kind. Which led her to sort of believe that if he was working with her kidnapper/kidnappers, that he may not be totally aware of their dealings.

But still he was working for them, and as such she needed to escape him. Ignoring the painful sensation centering around her heart, she waited until his eyes finally found her before she swung the chest downward and saw his expression become slightly panicked as he let out a small yelp and jumped out of harms way.

 _Dammit, dammit, dammit!_ Akane thought as the chest slipped from her hands and hit the floor and splintered into pieces. Everything that happened from there seemed to happen in slow motion.

The second the guy got his bearings and realized that she was defenseless, he was on her. His once calm red eyes taking on an oddly feral light as he grabbed her wrists and slammed her into the wall and pinned her there with his body.

She let out a strangled cry as her back hit the wall with enough force to push the air from her lungs and make her just a bit dizzy as the man simply held her there.


	12. Chapter 12

The moment that Akane cried out, everything in Ban just froze as he stared down at her pale face in utter disbelief. _Shit,_ _shit, shit!_ He'd only meant to stop her from braining him, not injure her more than she already was, merely stop her from attacking and injuring _him_.

Christ what was wrong with him? He wondered as he tried to ignore the non too subtle trembling of her body against his own.

Taking a moment to think- and coming to the slow realization that he'd have to check her injuries before he bothered to question her about her actions mere moments ago- he slowly brought his hands down so that he wasn't pinning her wrists to the wall anymore and simply took a small step back away from her in an attempt to give her a little bit of space.

A little bit, of course being the operative words here.

Especially when after he took his small step back, she took a slightly unsteady one forward and probably would have fallen if he hadn't caught her in his arms and held her upright with one arm around her waist, while using his free hand to hold her head pressed against his chest as he carefully maneuvered them both towards the bed so that he could sit her down and check her injuries to make sure that he hadn't made them any worse.

Once he had her sitting on the bed, he forcibly turned her so that her back was to him and swept her long hair out of the way as he deftly began to work on unfastening the back of her outfit so that he could see her.

The moment he had her back bared to him, he heard her let out a weird little strained squeak as he trailed his fingertips along her spine where he could plainly see the painful looking discoloration that spotted her back.

"Hey, does this hurt?" Ban asked as he very carefully applied a small minute amount of pressure to one particularly vicious looking bruise. And flinched a little bit when Akane curled in on herself and tried to escape his touch as a soft whimper slipped past her lips.

Sighing a little, Ban pulled her top closed and quickly refastened the buttons as he mentally kicked himself for being so damned rough with her.

After all it wasn't like she was an undying immortal like him, she could suffer actual _irreparable_ damage at his hands if he wasn't careful of how much strength he used when he touched her.

"Sit tight for a second." Ban said as he got up off of the bed and went to one of the shelves lining his wall and grabbed another of the specialized healing spells that he'd managed to steal a while back. And quickly activated it and tossed the small colored marble over the bed so that Akane would be enveloped in the soft, soothing glow as the spell attempted to heal her body a little more.

"Once that stops glowing and the light disappears, you and I need to have a little chat." Ban said, noting how Akane had finally managed to pull herself together enough to lift her head and look at him.

Even while frightened and in pain, there was no mistaking the fire in her lovely ruby colored eyes as she glared at him.

Oh he had no doubt that his girl would make another attempt to kick his ass, and kick it good. She simply looked that pissed to him. _That's alright_ , He thought to himself. She could defy him and fight him all she liked, in the end it really didn't matter since he would have his way.

They _would_ be bound together.

He wouldn't have it any other way. As much as he loved and missed Elaine, he simply couldn't spend the rest of his unnatural life pinning for her.

He wanted a woman of his own. Someone he considered his wife and mate. And he wanted children. Tons of them. Little white haired bots and red headed girls. He wanted so many of them that simply having them around would help fill the void left in the wake of Elaine's absence once more.

He wanted those things with all his heart. So much so that he could only really see the potential for them whenever he looked at Akane.

For some reason, much like when he had first met Elaine, he experienced the same weird chill that ran down his spine whenever he looked at her.

It was a strange combination of excitement and arousal. His automatic way of knowing that he desired the girl, much like he had desired Elaine, though she was nothing but a mere stranger to him to the moment.

Not that her being a stranger to him mattered overly much. He'd soon fix that anyways.

However for the time being, he wanted to know why she had attacked him. Walking over to the bedside so that she didn't have to look far to find him, he dropped into a squat just a few inches from the healing spell's magic orb and looked her dead in the eye and said, "Not that I mind the foreplay, honey- But why exactly did you attack me when I haven't done anything to warrant it?"

Akane gave him a slightly calculating look. Almost as if she were attempting to weigh the option of whether or not to remain silent. Or more likely- _lie_ to him before she finally bothered to speak. And when she did, what she said had him seeing red for more than one reason.

"It's because I thought you were that boy. The blond from before..." He frowned when she didn't elaborate at first and simply waited for her to continue before she finally decided to go on and say, _"The little bastard threatened me."_


	13. Chapter 13

Ban blinked at her for a moment as if he hadn't heard anything she had said before stammering out, "W-What?" Surely he hadn't heard Akane right. There was no way that his best friend, comrade/leader would threaten his woman. _Nuh-uh_ , no way, not happening.

Ban would be honor bound to kick his little blond ass if he had dared to.

"You heard me," Akane snapped at him as she glared. "I know that I didn't fucking stutter."

Ban blinked his eyes at her for a moment, but said nothing more about what had caused her upset. Deciding that it was best for the moment to get her out of the tavern and get her some fresh air among other things. "Tell you what, Akane- Come into town with me and do some shopping. Take your mind off of the captain and what he did while I wasn't paying attention and I'll handle him when we get back. Sound fair?"

"Only if you get my stuff back and punch the little asshole through a fucking wall."

Ban kept himself from smirking at her words and simply nodded his head in agreement as he stepped back away from the door and waited for her to move towards the door. Noting that she sort of was skittish around him and didn't take her eyes off of him until she passed through the open door and then came to a stop and waited on him.

Her actions might have been amusing, if they didn't bother him so damned much.

After all, he didn't want her to be skittish around him. She was his woman fro crying out loud! He wanted her to accept him and his attentions and be comfortable in the knowledge that he would care for and protect her with his immortal life.

Stepping outside of the bedroom, Ban very gently took hold of her delicate hand in one of his own and began walking, while tugging her along behind him as he navigated the hallway down the stairs to the tavern where he noted his captain had meandered back to after his little... _visit_ with his woman.

Meliodas looked up as the two entered the room, and smiled that innocent-unassuming smile of his and waved at them as Akane let out a soft growl and started to take a step towards the group when Ban acted quickly and yanked her back to his side, where he then wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted her until her feet came up off of the floor and just kept on walking until they were both outside, and a fair distance away before he finally placed her back on her feet again, but maintained a hold on her slender wrist just to keep her from running back to the tavern and jumping the Captain.

"O-Ow! Loosen your grip- your hurting my wrist." Akane suddenly said as she tried to tug her arm from his steely grasp, Ban looked down at her for a moment. Noting the pained look on her face and carefully loosened his grip enough to keep it from being painful, but not enough for her to slip free of him as he muttered a quick apology to her for forgetting his own strength for a moment.

Akane fell silent after that and merely let him lead her along the dirt road through a heavily wooded area that reminded her of the nightmarish movie series, Saw, and Wrong Turn, and felt her heart begin to accelerate a little bit in fear as she imagined him dragging her even further away from the place that they had just left for the sole purpose of killing her.

"W-Where are we going?" She asked, trying to keep her rising panic from her voice as images of a painful and gruesome death danced through her head.

 _Dear god_ \- i _s this going to be exactly like those movies?_ She wondered. Had she fallen into some weird hellish dimension where she was going to be raped, carved up like a turkey and _eaten_ _alive_ while she _screamed_?

"I told you before, we're going into town. I need to pick up some things for dinner later and I'm sure that you'd like to look around and maybe see if you can find anything else that you need that the Captain and I weren't able to provide you with. Things like clothing, ribbons for your hair, trinkets, shoes, maybe some books..." Ruby colored eyes flickered towards her pale face, internally frowning as he noted the panicked expression on her pretty face as he slowly said yet couldn't seem to hide his vexation, "You seem like the wordsy type. Ya know, educated... _What in the world is wrong with_ _you now_?"

Akane looked close to tears, her skin was so pale it was practically chalk white, her eyes were wide and frightened. All of which weren't a normal nor a natural reaction to anything that he'd just said. Which meant that something else was scaring the ever loving hell out of his woman.

But the question was, what was it?

Releasing her wrist for a moment so that he could try wrapping his arms around her and make an attempt at comforting her until she calmed down- he was taken by surprise when she hauled off and punched him in the face with such force that he was sure that she must have broken at least three of her fingers. And possibly fractured the bones in her hand and wrist before she went tearing off into the woods as if some sort of monster was after her.

Ban rubbed the area that she had struck for a moment, deciding to give her a decent head start before he hunted her down and demanded some sort of answer from her about her less than lady-like behavior.

Sighing, he wondered why he didn't just turn and walk away before his mind quietly reminded him that he was a bandit. A possessive one at that. It didn't matter if he was laying a claim to a person or a treasure- once something or someone was in his grasp he never let them go.

Still, it bothered him why Akane had reacted so violently now when she had seemed, civil yet slightly wary of him before. Scowling slightly he figured that enough time had passed for her to have gotten a fair distance from him, and decided that it was time to hunt her down and see what was up.


End file.
